NOTES FROM THE STUDIO: INSIGHT INTO THE MAKING OF AN ORIGINAL PAINTING

TELL ME YOU SECRETS (36 x 36 inches)

EARLY UNPLANNED UNDER LAYERS

One of the largest pieces in my most recent ILLUMINATED TOPOGRAPHY collection is a 36 x 36 inch layered figurative work entitled Tell Me Your Secrets.

This work began with early experimental abstract layers, created by pouring, splashing and spreading various viscosities of acrylic paint. I love this way of beginning a painting and the unrepeatable accidents that happen as the paint settles and dries in ways I can’t predict or control. This gives me a beautiful base to respond to with my next layers, which layer on as I work to keep what I love and improve what I don’t.

These works don’t always end up becoming a figurative work, often they will hang in the studio for sometime before it becomes clear to me what they are best suited to become. Other times, I have a vision of what the end work might look like and I will proceed towards that end quickly.

In the early stages of my paintings, sometimes there is a notion or plan. Most often there is not and I happily show up to the studio with the mindset of play, experimentation, curiosity, discovery and simply respond to what’s in front of me. For me - this is where the joy lies. Finding beauty in the unexpected.

Still keen to continue exploring how I might pay tribute to my inherited collection of porcelain figurines, I became interested in seeing how the wave and cloud like patterns of the abstract layers might work as the dress of a silhouetted figure.

I was also curious to see if I might be able create a silhouette by physically masking and painting the layers (as opposed to using the computer to manipulate layers of photos as I had done in the previous Garden Girls Collection) and also to see what a large statement silhouette piece might look like.

TELL ME YOUR SECRETS (36 x 36 inches) - GET PURCHASE DETAILS HERE

After many hours and layers, she emerged, looking like a confident young woman with the ocean in her veins and adventure in her heart. I instantly knew that a compass rose and star navigation line work would further hint at her story. The spatterwork was the final touch, suggesting both spray from the sea and the stars in the sky by which she might navigate. At this point, the only thing left is to write down her story.

TELL ME YOUR SECRETS
Ocean passages once held an element of the unknown. Celestial navigation was mysterious and yet dependable. For the ancient mariners emboldened with the secret knowledge of the stars, the fear that might otherwise have kept them tethered to shore evaporated like a morning fog. Today the ocean is still regarded as one of the few places of mystery left on the earth. As humans our curious natures drive us to discover, catalogue, explain and know. But what if we could also leave room for mystery… is there anything more inviting than the unknown?

36 x 36 in
acrylic on gallery depth cradled wood panel
black finished edges, ready to hang
signed in verso

Inventory Number: 24C109